US revokes visas for cruise ship workers in child sex abuse image case

More than 20 individuals, including crew members from Disney Cruise Line vessels, have had their U.S. visas cancelled by immigration authorities amid accusations they possessed images of child sexual abuse. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agency announced the action in a statement on Friday.

According to the statement, agents boarded eight cruise ships in late April and determined that 27 people—most of them from the Philippines—were involved in “receiving, possessing, transporting, distributing, or viewing” images depicting child sexual abuse. CBP said it revoked the visas of those implicated and returned them to their home countries.

The agency did not specify whether any passengers aboard the ships were believed to be victims. It also declined to identify which vessels were boarded, the reason those particular ships were targeted, or the location of the operations. “No additional information is available,” the statement said.

Media reports indicated that at least some of the ships had docked at the port of San Diego, California.

In its own statement, Disney Cruise Line said the company has a “zero-tolerance policy for this type of behavior and is fully cooperating with law enforcement. While the majority of these individuals were not from our company, those who were working with us are no longer employed by the company.”